Tennessee Vols vs. Alabama Crimson Tide Basketball Preview 2026
You can’t spell “temporary restraining order” without BAMA
Earlier this week Alabama’s Charles Bediako, who is suing the NCAA to reinstate his eligibility despite signing a two-way contract with San Antonio in 2023, was granted a temporary restraining order allowing him to be available for Saturday night’s game.
Alabama AD Greg Byrne tweeted that there are plenty of other teams “with former G League and EuroLeague players on their rosters who have been deemed eligible… The distinctions between those cases and Charles’ situation are without real differences.”
However, to my knowledge, none of those other cases involve payers who started playing college ball, made the conscious decision to forfeit their remaining eligibility by signing a contract with an American professional basketball franchise, then years later returned to the college ranks.
There’s a pretty good history of athletes that played professionally in one sport, then played college ball in another. Kelley Washington was a Florida Marlin before playing football for the Vols. Chris Weinke played in the Blue Jays’ system, then won a Heisman Trophy. And those were 20+ years ago.
However, that was crossing over from one sport to another. This is a whole other beast. Byrne is right in that there are former pros on college rosters. Heck, Tennessee has Ethan Burg, who played pro ball in Isreal. But there is a “real difference” in Burg’s situation and Bediako’s. Burg did not begin his career as a Vol, try out the pro league, and then call takie-backsies when he failed to succeed. Burg used his play in Isreal as a route into college ball, whereas Bediako is using it as a failsafe.
Honestly, the best thing for the sport would likely be for both of those situations to not exist. But the point that cannot be emphasized enough is this: Bediako signed on the line which is dotted knowing that doing such was forfeiting his remaining eligibility. It was a conscious choice, made with the consequences in mind.
We live in a different world of college athletics. That is clear. On Friday night, Nate Oates told reporters “the system is broken”, which is kinda like your neighbor telling you your house is on fire while pouring gasoline in your kitchen.
